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Births of endangered right whales rebound

Right whale #1612 and her calf 30 miles east of Wassaw Island on February 24. The calf was hit by a boat between January 21 and January 29, probably offshore of northeast Florida. The scars are consistent with an outboard engine propeller like those found on many recreational boats. Boaters should keep a sharp watch for whales and reduce their speeds when traveling within 30 miles of the Southeast U.S. coastline from November 15 to April 15. Photo by Sea to Shore Alliance, taken under NMFS permit #15488.

Right whale #1315 "Foster"-- a grandmother -- diving near the entrance to St. Andrews Sound, north of Little Cumberland Island on Feb. 4. Photo by Georgia DNR, taken under NMFS permit# 15488

"Equator" and her calf offshore of Cumberland Island on Jan. 21. Equator is named for the white scar across her back, which she got from being entangled in fishing gear in 2008. Photo by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, taken under NOAA permit #15488.

This fin whale was spotted off the coast of Little St. Simons on Jan. 29. This marks the third year in a row that a fin whale has been spotted in this region during right whale calving season. The whale was spotted by Patricia Naessig, Right Whale Coordinator for Sea to Shore Alliance.

For a North Atlantic right whale named Foster it was a momentous winter in the waters off the Georgia and Florida coasts.

Not only did Foster give birth here, but so did her daughter. That made Foster one of a pair of new grandmothers among the 20 North Atlantic right whales that calved this winter.

More impressive than the Southeast’s grandma whales may be the only right whale known to have given birth up north this year. She’s an old-timer named Wart, who had a grand-calf and also a great-grand-calf born this season. Right whales mature at about age 10 and give birth every three to five years.

And then there’s a whale known only by her number, 1334. She gave birth to yet another approximately 12-foot, 2,000-pound bundle of joy this season. The new calf is her ninth recorded offspring, making her the most prolific right whale known.

The tally of births for the season, which is winding down in Georgia, is about average but comes as a relief after last year’s low count of only six babies born to the highly endangered species.

Right whale aerial surveys will continue through March 31 in south Georgia and through April 15 near Savannah, but few whales appear to be staying in the area, said Patricia Naessig, right whale coordinator for the nonprofit Sea To Shore Alliance, which helps run the surveys.

Every winter, right whales head south from summer feeding grounds in New England and Canada to the waters off south Georgia and north Florida to give birth to their calves. With an estimated 450-500 individuals remaining, the animals are considered the most endangered of all large whales.

Research teams — including those from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the nonprofit Sea to Shore Alliance and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission — fly aerial surveys to document the whale activity, photographing the whales and identifying individuals by the unique white patterns formed by whale lice that attach to rough skin on their backs.

Overall whale sightings were low this season with only 21 other whales seen besides the moms and their calves. Some years, upward of half the population has migrated south for the winter.

While light on whale sightings, the season had other highlights. In late January and early February, the Sea to Shore Alliance team twice photographed an endangered fin whale off Georgia.

“Not often seen in temperate waters, fin whales are second in size only to the blue whale,” Naessig noted. “They can grow to lengths of 75 feet in the Northern Hemisphere and weigh as much as 40-80 tons. Interestingly, the fin whales sighted off Georgia were only in about 60 feet of water.”

It’s the third year in a row the team saw a fin whale during their aerial surveys.

From their research plane, the whale researchers also photographed great white sharks five times in Georgia waters. Shark researchers with the nonprofit Ocearch tagged and released a 14-foot great white shark they named Lydia near Jacksonville last month.

It’s unclear if the sharks have long been migrating with right whales or if the association is new, said Clay George, senior wildlife biologist with the Georgia DNR.

“We’re starting to wonder how the white shark fits in,” he said. “Whether it’s just a function of the sharks having a foraging opportunity on dead or sick whales or it’s some sort of predator/prey relationship with the calves.”

Among the whales that gave birth this year are three that researchers, including George, have risked their own lives to save in years past. The three were each entangled in fishing gear. Georgia DNR personnel worked to pull the lines off two of the whales. The other was disentangled in New England.

It was the first time so many rescued whales came back to gave birth, giving a boost to the disentanglement program.

“That certainly is something of a success,” said George. “It underscores the value of going out to disentangle them.”

RIGHT WHALES BY THE NUMBERS

• 20 cow/calf pairs were sighted this season (19 seen in Southeast U.S., one in Cape Cod Bay).

• An average of 21 cow/calf pairs per year has been counted since 2000.

• Population is estimated at fewer than 500 individuals.

• Researchers sampled 17 of the 19 southeast calves for genetics. The remaining two calves haven’t been seen recently.

• Three of this year’s moms were previously entangled in fishing gear.

• Right whale No. 1334 was here this winter with her ninth calf. She’s the most prolific female known.

• Six other calving females were observed in the Southeast this season without calves (It’s possible they lost their calves or weren’t pregnant.)

• Only 15 other, non-breeding whales were observed in the Southeast this season; this includes mainly juveniles and adult males. For comparison, 45 and 99 non-breeding right whales were sighted in the Southeast during the 2011-12 and 2010-11 calving seasons, respectively.

• One dead, entangled right whale, a 2-year-old male, was found floating dead off Palm Coast, Fla., in December. Necropsy findings indicate the whale likely died from malnourishment from chronic entanglement.